Hourglass
by cluekitty
Summary: Gradually, like sand slipping through the wasp- waist of an hourglass, it became obvious that the time they had obliviously looked over, was now beginning to run out. Gaahina romance.


She was cold. Therefore, it was only logical for him to offer his coat.

Then to pray that she didn't misinterpret his actions, deciding that his act of chivalry was a hidden token of his love, as he had experienced far too many times before. All too often he would make a small comment, something to signify appreciation, only to be received with incessant love-struck eyes, letters, presents, flowers, chocolates, panties…

For a man with the bloody Kanji for love on his forehead. Gaara was quite sick of the unwanted emotion.

But the desert was cold at night, freezing in fact. She was from a much warmer climate, logically she would be cold, especially as the fire was only beginning to take and it was ever so awkward since Temari and Shikamaru had left them for some "private time".

So he literally shoved the coat onto the shivering Hyuga girl and looked to his left into the dark desert, praying that the small girl wouldn't take this as an opportunity for…a vacation romance?

My goodness, the horror of the thought. The Kazekage's stomach screwed itself into a small ball at the thought of yet another fan-girl.

"Ano…"

Oh dear God. She was going to profess her undying love now and here.

"D-Don't you n-nee-ed your coat Kazekage-san, more t-than me…? I'm adequately clothed… I-I assure you-u." She stuttered and spluttered, and at that moment Gaara chose to turn his head, donning a frown.

He was met with the biggest pair of eyes he had even seen. They were widened and round, and surrounded by many fine black eyelashes, not at all like his sisters dust-brown hair. His stomach was caught in the death grip of a violent spasm , but his face remained firm.

He had seen the infamous byakuganeyes in action several times, through merging missions with the Konoha nins, and of course, the chunin exams several years previously. Considering he was the Kazekage, it was his job to know the potential opposition. In-fact he had even seen that particular pair loose against what seemed to him an obnoxious relative. Of course he was well-adjusted to the white eyes of the Hyuga Clan, but having seen the eyes up close was a rather un-nerving experience. Her eyes were incredibly white; no pupil was visible under a snowy cornea.

It felt like she was staring right into him, as much as she looked blind.

It didn't seem logical that the new ambassador for the leaf village happened to be a very attractive girl. Obviously, there was a hidden agenda to this woman's presence. His eye's narrowed, and of course, Hyuga, misinterpreted, though, not in the usual female fashion.

"I'm p-perfectly f-fine," She protested as she passed the coat to him, "T-than-k you for t-the concern."

Then she went back to sit near to the fire, spurning the Kazekage for warmth.

* * *

The next day he idly played with the sand at his desk, having done all his work, and not really feeling in the mood for training. He twirled the sand into a miniature sandstorm which roved around his desk, sending papers fluttering into an orderly pattern, which was a rather pleasant feeling, as he was rather obsessive about the state of his desk and filing system. There was a beautiful artistry about a correct filling system, but as of yet, he seemed to be the only one who understood the poetry of the filing cabinet.

He made a mental note never to bring it up in conversation lest people think him weird…er than usual.

Two soft knocks landed on his door, and Gaara, confident in his guards ability raised his voice, "Enter."

Enter the Konoha Ambassador, Miss Hyuga.

* * *

"B-but surely, this new probationary law demeans the mother's r-right to the child over the fathers, whilst we know that t-the father is an unsuitable role-model and parent. H-He only wants the c-child to satisfy his own ego, surely this cannot be right!"

Hinata was a good politics player. She didn't stumble up in her speech as much when she got going. She was passionate and fought like a stubborn bulldog. In fact it was a pity that she wasn't more like a bulldog, because the fact was that Gaara found her face extremely attractive and that was also highly distractive.

Very fine boned girl, high cheek bones, heart shaped face surrounded by long blue shiny hair (A rarity in the desert area), pale skin and a pointed nose, slightly upturned in fact. He concentrated on her lips, which happened to be very pink, and plump, and pretty, and he was sure, there were lots of other things beginning with "p" that her lips were, but nothing instantly sprung to mind.

"Kazekage-Sama!"

His attention was adverted, and he was highly disconcerted to see the young woman's frown, or rather, the lack of a smile. Blown by his emotion, he scrambled for an excuse.

"Miss Hyuga, Could you please leave, I think I'm beginning to suffer a migraine."

She flushed, her face contorting into an angry scowl. Angrily her hands scrabbled it get her paperwork and stuffed it into her bag, Gaara noticed her bitten nails and raw nail beds where she had bitten too far.

She moved to the door, turning to him at the last moment. "I hate it when people waste my time." She spat, and stormed out of the room.

Gaara sat at the desk, feeling awfully childlike, and decided the best thing to do to kill time and mute his head is to rearrange his pencil pots (because he has several).

* * *

It was night-time again, and Gaara found his head wandering traitorously to the overly-pretty Miss Hyuga. A conceited frown fell on his face. He shouldn't be think of her rather than another formality, another two dimensional feature of his life as Kazekage.

And then there was his awful logic that says he couldn't afford to think of her as a person, because he knows he'll tarnish and manipulate her, and when it does happen, he'll hurt another person. He's hurt too many people already in his short span of life, and whilst he'll pass judgment and hurt more, he refuses to kill the innocent.

He has standards.

But apparently that doesn't quite cover perverted spying on a certain ambassador. Especially when that spying includes watching her dressing, lathering her body with aftercare sun lotion, because her fair skin is sensitive.

He also discovers that she was wears long-johns in the night, tight thermals that prevent her from getting cold, yet are completely discreet under her normal modest clothing. He feels rather stupid for offering to lend her his coat.

He finds that she likes to leave her bed unmade when she gets up so she can make it right before she goes to bed as routine, and that she is a perfectionist when it comes to the placement of the sheets. He is rather amazed to find so much preparation go into an object he had always seen as obsolete.

He also discovers that when she is changing, she dumps the clothes on the floor, tidying them in the morning.

What bizarre behavior.

How…erotic.

* * *

Wait. How did that work?

* * *

"Thank you for training today Kazekage-sensai," smiled Matsuri, as she pulled out a kunai, "I've been sparring withsome of my friends lately to make up for time, but…"She paused, unsure of how to word herself as to not sound too loving or grovelling, "…It's not the same as training with a fully fledged ninja."

She blushed slightly as she whipped to the left, and attempted to reach past the sand barrier which Gaara was moving to block her path.

Garrafully well knew she had a girlish crush on him, and was doing his very best to discourage said affection by leaving her with other jounin's to manage as an extra member on teams, or a stand in, which did leave him free for his paperwork.

It had to be said this tactic had eased her shyness, and had also improved most main aspects of her fighting, though her gen-justsu was still lacking. She had also made many friends, and the such-like and he was beginning to hope that she would find someone her own age to fantasize about.

But now, time for a less subtle approach to discouraging young love.

"Do I have your confidentiality Matsuri?"

"Hai! Of course, I would be honoure-" He cut her off in mid sentence.

"If I were to upset a young lady, a lady of high class and foreign background, how would I win back such young lady's affections?"

Matsuri's smile faltered on her face at the mention of another member of the female sex. "Well…" she played for time; "I appreciate you considering me worthy for such a problem." she blushed.

Immediately he shot her down.

"Not at all, I'm not considerably close to Baki, Kankuro would suggest something retarded, and Temari would try to play cupid, therefore, logically you are the person to ask."

"Oh," and ashamed blush spread across her face. "I would try to be really nice to her and...It depends upon what you did to make her upset sensei."

An awkward silence fell upon the two until Garra realized that Matsuri wanted him to elaborate. "I wasted her time."

"You didn't do much, she won't mind, I'm sure." Matsuri mumbled.

"She sounded very angry." the Kazekage pondered wondering why it was precisely that which made the ambassador so uptight, whilst normally she would be so calm and peaceful.

Obviously this needed further investigation, but first, he had his student to train.

* * *

He watched her again, hiding himself from her byakugan just in case, despite the fact that she hardly ever seemed to activate the bloodline trait.

He noticed, much to his glee that she wasn't wearing long-johns, but rather a pretty white night gown. This was presumably due to the recent warm weather since it was scandalously short, only just reaching her mid-thigh. He noticed her legs, rather short and small like the rest of her, and curvy.

Hinata had all sorts of curves. There was the nape of her neck, the voluptuous bosoms and the wasp waist. A rather lovely curved bottom, too. This was presumably the thoughts and feelings of a super-perve, as demonstrated by Jiraya-sama of Konoha.

She would make her bed and read a book before succumbing to sleep.

And when she did, she would frown and cry out in her sleep.

* * *

Hinata wasn't happy at all he realized. Initially he had flagged it down as home-sickness, after all she was from a large clan and would be used to lots of people. But she seemed to shy away from crowds and large gatherings of people, preferring to stick to the dusty back streets, the small shops out of the view of most people.

Then most days she would hole up in her room, working well into the night, especially on the day before a meeting with himself.

She opened up a library account in Suna, proving to him that she was seeking a permanent residency. He always followed what she was reading, and was greatly surprised that her reading followed

factual books and training scrolls, rather than the garish fiction that it seemed normal for young ladies to read.

She adopted an old training ground which she peacefully took as her own.

It was then she would adopt her byakuganand he would have to conceal himself. Twisting and turning, he was quite impressed with her short range and gen-jutsu attacks, obviously her team had improved her.

Her aim was also quite good as well, but he found huge faults in her long range attacks, but apparently she did too, because that was what she practiced the most.

He also found that although she was a slow learner, she did gradually get the process, though he always felt that should she have assistance she would have come along quicker. There was also the idea that he could jump in and spar with her, but he highly doubted that she would appreciate that.

Obviously, he was to be subtle.

* * *

"The oil in Suna is one o-of Konoha'smain imports, we have a fair treaty signed with you over such quotas. In return we o-ffer water aid, especially in the dry season, and now…they want to offer medical research staff…Haruno-san may be assisting ." She bowed her head to disguise the snarl on her face, unfortunately Gaara, after so much honed stalking experience couldn't quite discard that.

"You do not approve Miss Hyuga?"

"Ahhh," She seemed taken aback by the sudden question, "Har-r-runo-sanis incredibly talen-ted, her addition t-to the village here w-would surely improve the f-facilities…"

"And I thought you didn't approve of your village sharing secrets," He teased, his voice taking on a dark and husky tone.

She blushed.

Bingo.

"Not at all, Kazekage-sama…This village is a b-beautiful place," Her voice softened, "Compared t-to Konoha, my existence is t-tranquil," she smiled in thought, only to return to more daunting matters. "Ano, Kazekage-sama, my opinion is of no v-validity… shall we continue…?"

She shuffled through her papers only to find they had discussed and found solutions to every problem they had brought up in the past hour.

"Oh, it s-seems we are done for today." She blushed again, smiling and proving to Gaara that she forgave the previous incident of last week.

Bowing, she turned to leave, and the traitorous words slipped from his mouthlike a snake, "So what is your problem with Haruno-san, Miss Hyuga?"

She flushed, not unlike before, but rather than snarling at him, she stood for a second, her black eyelashes fluttering on her face. "Ano…"

Slowly her index fingers came together, and began to tap one another in monotone, counting the seconds in an unconscious reflex, "…I don't think I should s-say…"

"But I'm listening,"

"Thank you Sir, should I feel the need…to confide in you, I would b-be sure to do so." she raised her eyes again, and all he could see, was her loneliness shining through.

Then she turned and left, leaving Gaara to his glorious paperwork mountain.

* * *

"Kankuro,"

"Hai," Answered the puppeteer, all too happily tweaking another wooden puppet with a well used screwdriver."What mission do you want me on now? I need to fix my baby first you know, and I need some linseed oil, but no, Temari had to forget, which totally pissed me off and-"

Suddenly he decided asking Kankuro for relationship advice wasn't the best idea.

* * *

"Oh, Kazekage-sama, what privilege it is to have you visiting us!" the outer-city librarian proudly exclaimed, "May I help you?"

He abruptly shook his head, and stalked away, actively seeking his destination between the rows of books. First he stopped in the technique section, only to move into the garden section when he spied a book on the different varieties of cacti. After over fifteen minutes of this behaviour, and picking up several random books, such as "_Cacti Breeding Revised_" and "_Advanced Gen-jutsu_" He slowly approached the returned books pile.

Shiftily he looked to his left and right to make sure there was no-one eyeing him withsuspicion. The only librarian on duty seemed to be busy witha pile of returns, a child was making his mother too angry with constant sniffles to notice the Kazekage. Other than that, the library was empty.

Idly he thought he had better endorse a reading drive if Suna's libraries were so empty.

Slowly he reached out for the tatty book, afraid that should he lose control, he would snatch and destroy it.

He'd noted for some time now that Hinatarefused to read romantic fiction, normally even pausing over the section with a wistful frown on her normally sweet face.

But when she had seen this particular book, she had grasped for it, the wistful frown elongating into a twisted smile.

She had devoured it in her tiny flat, opening it with shaking hands, which subsided with her reading of the lengthy tome.

He really did watch her too much, despite the incessant calling of his paperwork.

Slowly he pulled the book out, noting the red colour font, which matched the opened lips on the front of the book.

"_Anna Karenina_"-Leo Tolstoy

* * *

Sitting later at his desk, a good five hours of paperwork behind him, he finally looked at the book, inconspicuously hidden between random books from the library on the corner of his desk, hidden in plain sight.

First he picked up the block of pages. Flicking through the pages, sniffing the dry, oak smell of the paper, he sighed. As his sister's "on-and-off-depending-on-geographical-convenience" boyfriend would comment, this would be troublesome to read.

Despite his constant influx of work, he would loath to say he read for pleasure. It was an odd complex of his to over-analyze any piece of writing that came his way. As a result, reading became much to tedious to be done as an enjoyment.

Gingerly he opened up the front page, flipping through the fore-pages.

"_Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way_."

Internally he chuckled, and began to read.

For three hours he read viciously, devouring the book as Hinata did, but also flicking backwards, often misunderstanding the confusing foreign names. Several times he had to re-read the prologue pages which explained pronunciation.

Almost halfway through the decaying book, around page 316, wedged into the spine was a pressed flower.

A tiny, impossibly small, white tulip bulb. It's flaking petals stuck with huge amounts of solid Pvaglue, and tacked between a white card and a plastic cover, with the shaky kanjiof "Big Sister" underneath.

And on the back, attached underneath a lilac ribbon, the initials HH.

No prizes for who this belonged to.

* * *

"Oh my g-goodness, that's my b-book mark," gingerly, she picked the precious object up and weighed it in her hands. "Ano, how did you know it was mine kazekage-sama?"

"It's yours?" Gaara looked as nonchalant as possible, "I took a book out of the library and it was floating in there, I was going to return it today. You should take better care of your precious things if you wish not to lose them,"

She blushed and nodded, her eyelids lowered. At this point Gaara had realised he had made a foolish error of making her feel stupid. An amateur attempt at conversation had to be made in order to salvage the situation.

"I take you must be familiar with the book then?"

"O-oh, I take out lots of books!"-as if Gaara didn't know, "Which one is it?"

"Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy,"

"Ah, yes, I'm very familiar, I first r-read it after becoming a chunin," The same twisted smile came to settle on her pink lips, "It's so...bittersweet, yet realistic, the characters...are s-so real. In all honesty... it's a cruel book. Books are always supposed to support us, to take us to another world. T-this only reflects what a cruel place we live in, y-yes, it's a good book indeed. I-I'm surprised that an established man l-like yourself would read such a thing."

Instantly she blushed. "Ano- I never meant it in that context."

Gaara let his face relax into what he hoped looked like a smile. "An established man...is that really what you think of me Miss Hyuga?"

Her face flushed again, and she batted her eyelashes furiously in an attempt to stop her traitorous lips from curling upward. He tried to prevent his face from heating in a twisted symmetry.

"Sh-shall we get on with some work?"

* * *

Afterwards, that was when he realised that both the book and Hinatawere similar in the fact that they were both bittersweet. Now it was a matter of finding what had made her this way.

"So should we enforce some kind of tax to m-make sure people are d-dissuaded to buy products from the sound? I k-know in the past we have chosen t-to do so, but we know it to be free of Orochimaru, It's unfair to do this to a r-recovering country,"

Gaara really tried not to stare too much, knowing fully well his stare was often interpreted as creepy. "Hrm," he mused, making sure he sounded as intelligent and knowledgeable as possible. "Considering it is free of Orochimaru there ought to be some kind of reconciliation. However, we know there are still dangerous shinobi, and it's only a matter of time before the Sound is plunged into another civil war. We can lower the tax enough to allow some traders a more access, but I think they must pay for shinobiassistance, knowing fully well how dangerous the Sound is. I guess this also provides some income for us, I shall converse with my financial team"

"Hai," Answered Hinata, "I shall send a secure bird for my superiors, outlining your decision, Kazekage-sama."

She stood up and bowed, her long hair secured in a tight bun at the crook of her neck. Feeling suddenly pressured to continue conversation, he decided to fall back on a topic that had been pressuring him since the beginning of August.

"Excuse me, Miss Hyuga...but I would be greatly indebted to you if you could help me with a problem."

"Ano, certainly I-I would be m-most pleasured to help you" She smiled, her pink lips parting slightly, glad to be of service. Perhaps even happy that her day was not going to spent in monotony.

"My sister's birthday is coming up, and I have no idea of what is acceptable to get her, could you please help?"

"Oh, Certainly! What does Temari-san like?"

Garra felt his traitorous ears burn as he answered a sulky "No idea."

"Hrm...chocolate or sweets?"

"She'll accuse me of making her fat and being cheap at the same time," His neck began to turn turncoat and became puce red.

"Ano...perhaps something to aid training...summonin-g scrolls, n-new kunais?"

"She's a jounin now, and will almost certainly take that as an insult to her ability."

"Ano...Jewellery or an item of clothing,"

"Next she'll be asking me to come kitchen shopping with her because she'll think I'm a homosexual," He noticed Hinata's stern look "My sister has a very stereotypical view of homosexuals. You've met the woman yourself."

Hinatastarted blushing as she realised she was having this conversation with one of the most powerful people she knew, and Gaara's blush began to expand onto his face.

"W-well...we could go shopping together, I-I'm certain the shops of S-suna should be able to cater for y-your sister's tastes..." Dipping her head, Gaara could swear she saw colouration on her cheeks to rival his own.

Almost feeling like he was accepting a date, he replied "Yes."

But not too eagerly. And for that matter, not too slowly either.

* * *

The sun beat down on the dusty stall coverings. A myriad of different shanty stalls, their goods ranging from the ripest fruit to strings of bright beads. Gaara and Hinata stood on the outskirts, rather discouraged by the mixture of people in the claustrophobic streets.

Hinata shifted uncomfortably, feeling heated in her black headscarf, which Gaara could only presume its purpose was to help protect her delicate scalp. "I'm sure we'll find s-something here!"

Gaara nodded, and followed the girl in.

In the next hour, he learnt that the act of shopping was a feminine art, it's secrets fiercely protected by the female ego. And it seemed his taste was not to the secret female sixth sense's taste.

He had spied a string of orange beads of which (despite his earlier protestations about buying his sister jewellery) he had thought rather Temari-like, Hinata had frowned and shook her head. And then there was the whimsical music box he had seen, but Hinata had chewed on her lip for a moment... pondering, only to shake her head in disdain.

In retrospect, they had picked up a very ornate miniature fan, with some silver side details and a rather elaborate pattern, rather similar to Temari's plain working fan. However, any cosmetics that Hinatahad suggested were dually greeted with his disgusted face.

There was also a dead monkey's hand, but his common sense refrains from him even mentioning this fact to the Hyuga ex-heiress.

Then it hit him, like shrapnel from a bomb embedding so surreally into his fragile skin he cannot contemplate the obvious pain. Ex-heiress. Miss Hyuga.

Not Lady Hyuga. Why else would a Hyuga be in Suna? Not working for the family but rather the Hokage?

She was disowned.

And, yet as she saw him pondering over the ugly monkey's hand, with it's gritty fingernails and clawed palm, and pulled his arm, her gentle warmth seeping into him, he couldn't help but feel Konoha was the fool for so freely giving her to him.

* * *

The two relaxed in the charming coffee shop that Hinatahad pulled him into. The air was flavoured with the taste of dark coffee, and the rich dark flavour of the crushed beans was potent enough to fill the air. It was so much more relaxing than the hustle and bustle of the Suna markets.

"I'm so glad we got that all over and done! Your sister is incr-edibly hard to buy for!" She flashed him a winning smile and reclined in the squishy plastic chair. Beside her on the floor sat the decorated fan, and a lovely purple desert lily that Gaara was assured Temari would appreciate.

Not that she would say anything too negative, if anything, she ought to be chuffed that her youngest brother had thought of her birthday despite his work.

Around them a slight murmur was to be heard from behind the cafe's counter.

"The Kazekage's here! Go, one of you serve him!"

Of course, it was certain that no matter where Gaara went, he was to be constantly annoyed by the attentions of others. He would have stood had Hinata not asked him how he took his coffee.

"Black with sugar please." He forced his spine to relax underneath him.

"Ano, I-I love the coffee shops here in Suna...at home w-we tend to have more busy restraurants, it's such a relaxing atmosphere, hn?"

Gaaracomplied and agreed witha nod, watching her eyes take in the dull interior with wide eyes.

"Honestly, taking y-you for a coffee was the last thing I could do s-sir," Her bangs tilted as she moved her head to the side, presenting him with a clear view of her white forehead.

"Really?"

"Oh, for finding m-my bookmark...It's very p-precious." She paused, smiling.

"May I ask in what way...or would that be seen as rude?" Gaara asked in curiosity, his eyes widening in slight anticipation to learn of some secret.

"Oh...my little sister made it when we were both small, she must have been only five to my eight. My father...had a habit of fighting us against one another. The week before this was made, s-she had beaten me in a s-spar," she paused to bite her lip "She made this in apology as I-I was forced out of th-e house... and when my father found out she had...made this for me, he beat her. I have not talked to her since...out of fear. I'm afraid that when I do, she won't be my little sister anymore. If anything, she'll become a tyrant like father."

She looked up at him, a rash of red coursing underneath her fair skin. "I've never t-told anyone that." she gushed.

"Hn," he nodded, the relief of understanding coursing through him, "I think you can trust me with the sentiment." His voice dropped, to a much lower pitch, "In my family, It's an unspoken rule to never mention my father, nor my mother...but sometimes I wish we could," he suddenly froze, aware of how vulnerable he had made himself.

"And that's the first time I've ever told anyone that."

Her eyes met his in an unspoken agreement . She smiled widely "Let's promise to be the best parents we can!"

The entire cafe, (thought to be fair, it was rather empty) turned to look at the Kazekage and kunochi with a collective smirk. In a moment of epiphany Hinata digested what she had just said, and turned bright red. A red that matched his. "Aaa, aa, a-a...aaa." Murmured Hinata.

Gaara felt his non-existent eyebrows begin to twitch uncontrollably.

An uncomfortable silence stifled the two as they sipped their cups, delivered with garnish and smirk.

Subconsciously he noted that she put four sugar cubes into her coffee, and snuck three into her bag for later consumption.

He couldn't really understand the attraction. To the sugar of course. He totally understood the attraction to her.

She was pretty. It was normal to be attracted to pretty things. And she had cute habits. That was normal too, because cute was endearing. Then there was the scary, scary thought, that he actually liked her for her. He liked the passiveness because he could get his way. He liked the meekness because she saw him. How egostatical. He only liked her because she made him feel good about himself. He was such a horrible, nasty, little man.

Or was that the way all relationships worked?

* * *

His long, thin piano fingers (his brother had once mentioned that Gaarawould be a suburb gynaecologist -only to be met with a face full of fully deserved sand) spread across his abnormally tidy desk, which remarkably, was actually visible.

Of course, insomnia ultimately played to his advantage in his capacity, despite having certain detrimental effects. One such effect was that people always mistook him for some kind of psychopath. -Totally over-rated. Insanity was much too exaggerated, especially in media.

And then EVERBODY felt they could win you over with a few kind words.

The world was filled with idiots. Condescending, kind idiots.

He sighed, and flicked through one of his library books, "_How to breed Ninja Cats_". -Truly an enlightening subject.

Behind him, he became aware of the incessant flickering of a streetlight. Soon, his attention shifted, his consciousness suddenly aware of his beautiful view that suddenly encompassed him. It was bizarre that a view that he was so used to could effect him in such a way. Past the flickering streetlight and into the soft sand of the desert, navy blue under the cool light, and freezing cold. How long had he worked constantly, oblivious to the beautiful sight behind him?

He felt foolish. He didn't like that feeling much.

But then again, should he claim the heiress as his own, shouldn't the leaf feel the same way… shouldn't Naruto feel much the same way?

A cruel smirk formed on his face.

He admired the view for a moment longer. Absently he wondered what Hinata meant to Naruto. He ruffled his hand through his glorious hair (he hadn't many things to be glorious- but it was his shock of brazen red hair that stole the crown).

The cruel smirk faded into a troubled frown. He began to wonder what Naruto meant to Hinata, recollecting that the heiress did indeed have an attraction to his friend.

His eyebrows creased and his eyelids folded over his green eyes, suddenly much too tired to be awake at this lonesome hour.

* * *

"I think we are all finished here," she murmured, her soft voice not once stumbling or stuttering.

Gaara shifted, his hand through his hair. "I think I'm finished too," he looked up at her, smiling a little nervously.

"Fancy grabbing a coffee?" He asked, suddenly slightly (_painfully_) shy.

Hinata blushed, only to give way to a smile. "Sounds like a p-plan!"

But curiously enough she suddenly paused, suddenly bringing her white little finger to her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried that somehow he had ruined everything, and somehow he had insulted the female.

She looked up, her finger brushing against her top lip, which curled into a gentle lilt. "We're friends… aren't we?"

Gaara blushed, taken back by the remark. His hand nervously strayed to the back of his head, and he ruffled his hair once again. "I suppose we are."

* * *

***Note From Clue :)***

Back after my exams- I can't stop speaking welsh :P (Mwy Mwy Mwy- More More More) Anyhow, I thought I would practise my english grammar skills by writing out something squishy - but progressive (Bad fics allways make the romance come too fast right - you have to be an amazing author to pull of "immediate attraction" don't you :P) After a really scathing review (THANK YOU) I've decided to join the grammar nazis. If I'm doing something wrong- Tell me! (Outline it a bit too- I'm slow :P) I really want to improve!

Oh- I wanted to write more about Anna Karenin/Karenina - but I guessed not many people (least not of my age-group) have read it. -Try it out. It's quite a beautiful book.

Next chapter is much more action packed, to be honest, this was really boring to write. But it does put out what I'm doing... and the important stuff is down- Hinata has been given a past D:

More to come- hope you liked it - And it didn't bore you.


End file.
